When changing the diaper of an infant, toddler, or special needs individual, a caregiver must traditionally hold and lift the legs with one hand and clean the diaper area with the other hand. In this patent, “person” refers to infants, toddlers, or special needs individuals in need of a diaper change. The task of changing the person's diaper is challenging because of the person's tendency to roll over or squirm out of the caregiver's grasp. Moreover, using a single hand for diapering activities as in the traditional method is especially challenging because of the person's tendency to soil himself and the caregiver during the diaper change. With the traditional method, it is not possible to simultaneously (1) separate the person's legs to clean the groin area; (2) lift the person's legs and buttocks to clean the buttocks; (3) restrain the person from rolling over or from interfering with the diaper change; and (4) containing waste generated during the diaper change. The prior art fails to address these problems.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,654 (the “'654 patent”) discloses a set of ankle restraints and a handle for lifting the restrained ankles upward. Because the invention disclosed in the '654 patent requires the caregiver to hold and lift the handle upward, the patented invention fails to solve the problem of freeing up both hands for diapering activities. The infant's buttocks are lifted only while the caregiver lifts the handle of the device. There is no way to lock the height of the infant in place so one hand must always be holding and lifting the handle during diapering activities. Moreover, the invention described in the '654 patent does not allow for separating the infant's legs or adjusting the distance between the infant's legs during the diaper change. The legs are separated at all times by a fixed, “slightly separated” width. The claims and specification reveal there is no way to adjust the separation of the legs either to fit the device to infants of different sizes or to properly clean soiled areas in the groin region. The '654 patent provides no mechanism for restraining the infant's hands to prevent him or her from interfering with the diaper change and no mechanism for preventing the child from rolling over. The '654 patent also never mentions methods for containing waste generated during the diaper change.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,142 (the “'142 patent”) discloses a diaper changing table that includes two rods with stirrups and a foot pedal that raises the rods. The lifting force in this invention comes from below as the rods are pushed upward. Although this invention allows for a hands-free operation of lifting the infant's legs and buttocks, there is no ability to adjust the separation of the legs. Further, the invention described in the '142 patent fails to allow the caregiver to adjust the height of the infant's buttocks easily during a diaper change. Instead, the specification and claims make clear that there are only two different heights allowed by the device during a diaper change (“a first and second position”). Adjusting the device to achieve any other heights involves significant effort because “if the stirrup needs to be a little higher or a little lower, the setscrew can be loosened, the rods can be adjusted in length and the setscrew could be tightened again to fasten the rods back together.” Not being able to easily adjust the device to raise the infant's buttocks to many different heights during a diaper change negatively impacts the utility of the device. The invention described by the '142 patent is also a “piece of furniture” and is therefore not easily moved to different locations and is not easily used on different surfaces. The invention described by the '142 patent also requires that the caregiver continually depress the pedal to keep the infant's legs raised. The '142 patent provides no mechanism for restraining the infant's hands to prevent him or her from interfering with the diaper change and no mechanism for preventing the child from rolling over. There is also no mechanism for catching the infant's waste produced during the diaper change.
U.S. Publication No. 2005/0235424 (the “'424 publication”) is comprised of a bed that tapers off near the child's buttocks to allow the child's buttock's to hang over the end of the device. This device does not easily facilitate access to the child's buttocks because the amount of space the operator has to clean the buttocks is limited by the fixed distance between the basin of the device and the child's buttocks. If the device is placed so that the child is close to horizontal (which is an ideal position to set the child down in) little room is available between the surface on which the device lies and the buttocks, making it difficult to clean the diaper area. In addition, the device includes a pair of stirrups for restraining the legs of the child, but these stirrups are only adjustable via a telescope adjustor. The telescope adjustor does not allow for adjusting the distance between the infant's legs; it only allows for adjusting the length of the stirrups. The '424 publication provides no mechanism for restraining the child's hands to prevent him or her from interfering with the diaper change. Although the '424 publication provides a chest strap, the chest strap is attached to a rigid base. The rigid base impedes a caregiver's ability to lift, turn, and move the child's legs, buttocks, and torso for improved access to the diaper area. The '424 publication also never discusses a mechanism for catching the child's waste produced during the diaper change.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,755,198 (the “'198 patent”) is directed to a system for restraining the upper torso of a child or infant for diapering activities. The system provides a rigid base on which the child is laid and a pair of chest straps arranged in a crisscrossing manner. This device does not allow a caregiver to simultaneously lift and separate the legs of a baby to provide access to the diaper area during a diaper change and it does not leave both of the caregiver's hands free to engage in diaper changing activities. The '198 patent provides no mechanism for restraining the child's hands to prevent him or her from interfering with the diaper change. Although the '198 patent provides a crisscrossed chest strap, the crisscrossed chest strap is attached to a rigid base. The rigid base impedes a caregiver's attempt to lift, turn, and move the child's legs, buttocks, and torso for improved access to the diaper area. The invention described by the '198 patent also fails to include a way to fix the position of the infant's buttocks and legs into place and never discusses a mechanism for catching the child's waste produced during the diaper change.
In summary, the prior art does not adequately provide a solution to the need for an apparatus to lift the legs and buttocks and separate the legs of the person in need of a diaper change, the need for an apparatus that can be adjusted easily during a diaper change to many different positions, the need for an apparatus that frees both of the caregiver's hands to help clean the soiled person, the need for an apparatus that restrains a person's hands to prevent him or her from interfering with diaper changing activities, the need for an apparatus to prevent the person from squirming or rolling over while still allowing enough flexibility to allow the caregiver to lift and turn the legs, torso, and buttocks of the person, the need for the caregiver to fix the position of the person's legs and buttocks in place, or the need for an apparatus that catches waste or urine produced during the diaper change. There is a continuing need for a new diaper changing device to meet these objectives.